Haldon forest trails - first visit advice

Ayup. I'm thinking of popping in to try the Haldon built trails this Sunday en route down to Teignmouth, been meaning to for years but may finally pull my finger out this year.

Reading around, people seem to think it's a bit overgraded compared to Welsh trail centres, so I was wondering if it's more Superlight territory than my usual Epiphany option for trail centres. Any thoughts on which would be better?

Any advice on parking no-nos also gratefully received (IIRC there were some theft problems a few years ago at one parking spot but can't remember which).

Halon is one of our local patches, to be honest the grading is bonkers.

Haldon red is more like a dark blue/purple compared to what would be graded as red elsewhere (wales for example)

Most of the time I ride a rigid SS there and it's just as quick really except for maybe a couple of rocky bits where you have to back off a smidge.

However.... there is a lot of unmarked stuff which is a lot more fun, but can be hard to find (or at least hard to string together) without a local to show you but its a bit boggy at the moment, although still good for a giggle.

Park in the main car park and you'll be fine. I should be up there both days this weekend so if you do want some guidance let me know!

Yep overgraded is a good way of describing it. Despite this its a great fun place to ride, very twisty singletracky, the odd little rise you can get some air over if you hit them fast enough. Its a good place as you can take your gran there, but still have a laugh due to it's corners etc. Link the red and the blue togther. The blue is smooth, twisty and dead fast. All fine on a hardtail, SL will be great. Don't bother with the "Black", whilst its a good bit of fun, two days ago the lower half was a quagmire and still blocked by a fallen tree.

funny how different people think about that bit*, I love it, its flat yes, but twisty and flowy, if you bash round it a full pelt it is surprisingly fun!

*known as 'Valley of the Bear-Cows' in our group due to the big wooly cows that sometimes roam through there and the fact that there's nothing valley like about it at all...

Always amused at how different groups name the cheeky trails too as they invariably get different names depending on how you found them and what you think of them.

Some of the Haldon cheeky names we have:

'Kidderminster' - cos its just kind of 'there' but you're not sure why
'Crash' - cos on our first outing down it one of us did - spectacularly
'Spooky Woods' - cos its really dark
'Duck' - cos you have to
'The Edge' - cos it skirts the edge of the forest
'Beyond the Edge' - the extra bit you cna do after 'The Edge'
'Not the Edge' - cos it starts in the same place as 'The Edge' but it isn't the same trail
'The Edge 3D' - the 3rd Direction version of 'The Edge'
'Rat Run' - cos it was a rat run between two other trails and was tight
'Slow Twisty' - cos it is
'Bird Box' - starts at a bird box...
'Journey to the Centre of the Earth!' - cos it goes all the way to the bottom on the far side of the hill and is a bugger to climb out of
'Barking Dog' - starts by the quarry and there is always a barking dog there at the gate

Hey all, much obliged for the top tips about route choices and conditions. Tempting "that fat knacker Chas" out from a haze of luurve-induced pheromones might be a challenge but I'll see what I can do.

Also depends on if I can get a grip and finish some work ahead of this weekend - :bored: but needs finishing

Ridden it plenty of times on a mid-90's steel rigid kona and its fine, only a couple of juddering bits on the red.

Blue is fun, red is also ok (apart from the last bit on the car park side of the road which I find dull). Only issue I have is with families walking across the trails during the busy parts of the weekend and looking in disgust at you whilst you manically brake trying to avoid hitting their children at pace.

Amedias...
I like how I can work out your trail names to our trail names by description. I likr too how they are all completely diferent bar rat run (which used to have a sign ssaying rat run at the start) I am luckyeenough to know most of the people who have built the trails. The traditional haldon naming method is name it after something you find on the trail... Tipi.. Teapot... Harrassment (herris fence panel) bumwash(bidet was found) jerry can.. Canny jerry... Dead dog down... Steak and chips etc

ah bidet was just known as 'bidet' or 'vcr' (there was one of them on the preceeding corner before the bidet turned up) to us but I like bumwash

we kinda use the name after what you found method as well sometimes, with 'cooker run' (AKA hobnob), the one that had the cooker top hanging off a tree at the split from barking dog.

Rat Run did have a sign up for a while, no idea who put it up but it was known as rat run to us before that, like how that trail evolved so many times too eventually splitting and morphing into Harveys before the red run went through it.

There's loads more but I cant remember the names as was getting on for 13 years ago now before the marked trails were there, only one I can remember is 'Baja Freeride' but pronounced 'Badger Freeride' the end of which is kind of still around but cuts through the Blue route in the half height Xmas tree area.

I love trail naming amusements, do you ride woodbury too? do you know 'the rooty climb of rooty b4stardness?' I can see no other way of naming that one!